TRADITIONAL BILINGUAL UKRAINIAN EASTER SONGS AND HYMNS * Words can be found at www.st-athanasius.ca Performed by members of St. Athanasius Choir, Regina, SK, Canada
Stunning performance!!! This is adorable. I grew up loving this hymn. I never dreamed that I would hear it in English. The translation seems to be excellent and natural. I think it is an outstanding idea to make it more available for several reasons. First, there are hardly any decent Paschal carols in English - the Victorian hymns on the theme I've heard are rather ugly and we really need better ones in the west that can be used by people of all backgrounds. Second it will familiarize non-Ukrainians with the undeniable beauties of traditional Ukrainian melodies and culture in general, and and make them better understood. We should be aiming at world peace after all and the growth of mutual respect among nations and that requires some actual experience. You can't love people in some impersonal and purely theoretical way. You have to know who they are and Ukraine deserves a great deal of sympathy not only for its current plight, but also for its cultural, etc., achievements which are being lost to view amid the strife. And that is not blind nationalism speaking because I am ethnically diverse. I am actually more Hungarian, Russian and Serbian than Ukrainian but fiercely grateful for whatever Ukrainian background I have which my family made me very aware of. My mother took me to the Ukrainian Orthodox church in preference to any other. When I later asked her why, she said, 'Choir's better. Also Kievan chant is beautiful and who doesn't love Bortnianski?' I didn't know who Bortnianski was then but I found out and she was right. I don't want to be greedy (No. That's not true. I'm as greedy as anything.) so here's a hint for anyone with the necessary talent who is likely to be inspired. There are zillions of other Ukrainian hymns of similar calibre waiting to be popularized in other languages. The Basilian hymnal for example offers plenty of examples. Pid krestu, Serdse Isuse (I don't agree with the theology personally but I'm not the final authority.) What's the hymn with the refrain O Mariya, zoreh zir? Ty nam...lask bezmir (forgot the words). The world would profit by knowing them.
Воистину Воскрес!
Stunning performance!!! This is adorable. I grew up loving this hymn. I never dreamed that I would hear it in English. The translation seems to be excellent and natural. I think it is an outstanding idea to make it more available for several reasons. First, there are hardly any decent Paschal carols in English - the Victorian hymns on the theme I've heard are rather ugly and we really need better ones in the west that can be used by people of all backgrounds. Second it will familiarize non-Ukrainians with the undeniable beauties of traditional Ukrainian melodies and culture in general, and and make them better understood. We should be aiming at world peace after all and the growth of mutual respect among nations and that requires some actual experience. You can't love people in some impersonal and purely theoretical way. You have to know who they are and Ukraine deserves a great deal of sympathy not only for its current plight, but also for its cultural, etc., achievements which are being lost to view amid the strife. And that is not blind nationalism speaking because I am ethnically diverse. I am actually more Hungarian, Russian and Serbian than Ukrainian but fiercely grateful for whatever Ukrainian background I have which my family made me very aware of. My mother took me to the Ukrainian Orthodox church in preference to any other. When I later asked her why, she said, 'Choir's better. Also Kievan chant is beautiful and who doesn't love Bortnianski?' I didn't know who Bortnianski was then but I found out and she was right.
I don't want to be greedy (No. That's not true. I'm as greedy as anything.) so here's a hint for anyone with the necessary talent who is likely to be inspired. There are zillions of other Ukrainian hymns of similar calibre waiting to be popularized in other languages. The Basilian hymnal for example offers plenty of examples. Pid krestu, Serdse Isuse (I don't agree with the theology personally but I'm not the final authority.) What's the hymn with the refrain O Mariya, zoreh zir? Ty nam...lask bezmir (forgot the words). The world would profit by knowing them.
We are happy you enjoyed! Thank you!